Visual Sound Route 66

[FretFire]

Anyone have any experience with these guys?

After hearing about the Visual Sound Pure Tone (a line buffer made for placing before a pedal board and reduce signal degradation, but it's now out of production) and discovering that its circuit is built into the rest of their pedals, I'm considering replacing my MXR compressor with a Route 66. It would give me both compression AND those line buffer characteristics.

I'd also be gaining a lower OD pedal, so I'd have some better blues/jazz type OD compared to balls to the wall stuff from my Ultra DS-1. You can apparently also use it as a preamp to record direct.

All of this sounds great, but it doesn't tell me how the pedal actually sounds, which is where you guys come in . So... anyone?

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

I bought a Route 66 after being really disappointed by an Ibanez TS-7 (and before John started publically tweaking pedals ). The overdrive side is great, especially in front of a tube amp. The "Bass Boost" switch is a nice feature. FWIW the overdrive sounds very similar to, but a bit better than, the TS-7 after John modded it. Guess that means it sounds a lot like a TS-808...

For some reason - probably my ignorance - the overdrive doesn't always sound "right" working with my Tech 21 TradeMark 10. It's fine going from clean on the amp to just pedal overdrive, but mixing the amp on overdrive with the Rte 66 o.d. sometimes falls a bit flat.

I've had noise problems with the compression side of this pedal. Bob at Visual Sounds was great about taking the pedal back for "repair", but he ended up repairing or replacing my V.S. "One Spot" power supply instead saying that was the source of the noise. It did get much better for a while. The noise inherent in a compressor may be part of the problem for me too.

Please keep in mind that I've had mine for a couple of years and IIRC Bob has been hard at work improving the pedal. I'd be really interested in hearing from someone who bought a Rte 66 more recently.

Also, these pedals are built like tanks. Oh, and I love the H2O Chorus/Echo pedal from Visual Sounds.

Chip

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Cool man, thanks for the info. Anyone else have experience?

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

I've been using a Rte 66 for about three years now. It's a great pedal, very musical IMO. I often use the compressor as a clean boost by keeping the Sustain control low and turning up the Gain. It works great! The OD side is a great TS808 clone, nice classic Tubescreamer sounds. The added Bass Boost really helps thicken things up with a thin-sounding guitar or amp.

Here's a clip of a solo I added to a friend's tune using the Rte 66 to drive a tweed Deluxe clone using an Epi Dot w/Seth Lover pickups. This is a combo of both the Comp and OD sides, just a touch of each.

http://www.visi.com/~sstolle/mp3/truth2_cc.mp3

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

That clip sounds great, some awesome sustain and harmonics/feedback there, on what sounds like relatively little OD. Very smooth, musical tone. Great playing too by the way .

Do you have any input as far as how it acts as a buffer before other pedals to retain signal quality?

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Here's a few clips of the Route 66 being used as a preamp to record direct. Just guitar->pedal->board, sounds pretty tasty. I really like the jazz clip.

http://www.visualsound.net/stevek.html

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

That clip sounds great, some awesome sustain and harmonics/feedback there, on what sounds like relatively little OD. Very smooth, musical tone. Great playing too by the way .

Do you have any input as far as how it acts as a buffer before other pedals to retain signal quality?

Thanks

The buffering seems to work really well. I run all my FX in front of the amp (no loop on the amps I use) and there's no difference in sound from just plugging straight into the amp. I use a Dan-Echo and Dano Cool Cat chorus, which some people claim are tone suckers, but I have no problem with them in my setup. I run the Rte 66 early in the chain, the only thing in front of it is a Blackstone OD that doesn't like buffering before it. Everyhing else comes after the Rte 66, good clean tone.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Very cool. My current pedal lineup consists of a Boss TU-2, MXR Phase 90, Ultra Boss DS-1, and a Boss CH-1 Chorus. There will eventually be a wah and delay there too, so I'd definitely looking for a good buffer. Looks like the Route 66 might be my ticket, I need to find somewhere I can play it.

Would it work better before or after the tuner?

 

[Alvin Lee Fan]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Sorry, no idea about tuner placement in the chain. I don't use an inline tuner.

Don't Boss pedals also have some buffering built in? I thought I read that once.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Not sure, sounds like something I need to look up .

 

[Bluesman]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

I have mine since I met Bob at the NAMM Show last January. I have all of his pedals.
Super quality and service. The Rte 66 beats all these imitations of the TS808 tubescreamer. Just one thing I have a hard time with: Rte 66 & Jekell & Hyde are very
noisy when you want the gain at 10.
You can try all the overdrive pedals and you'll end up with the Rte 66 as your final choice.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Visual Sound Route 66

Cool, thanks for all the tips guys. Looks like I'll be selling my current compressor and watching for a deal on a Route 66.